Ipswich Town won their opening pre-season friendly 1-0 at Dartford this afternoon. Andy Warren runs the rule over the Ipswich Town players.
Vaclav Hladky
Had very little to do during his first half as an Ipswich player, with no shots on goal of note. Had a couple of worrying moments when charged down with the ball at his feet but was neat and tidy the majority of the time.
Janoi Donacien
The right-back is being given a chance to impress Paul Cook, after returning from his loan at Fleetwood, and was solid at the back while having a few adventures going forward. Made it past his man a couple of times but didn’t have enough on the resulting crosses.
Luke Woolfenden
The youth product looks to have bulked up a little over the summer and was comfortable throughout his time on the pitch.
Toto Nsiala
Some balls won in the air, a couple of pinged passes across the pitch and a good near-post block on the big defender’s first outing of the summer. Like Woolfenden, he’ll be looking to make an impression this summer.
Matt Penney
A first appearance in an Ipswich shirt for the former Sheffield Wednesday man, who got up and down the pitch well and put in some confident crosses, without being able to pick out his target on too many occasions.
Lee Evans
Captained the side and kept it ticking throughout, moving the ball from right to left and bringing others into the game. The ball to Penney was a particular favourite, with the Welshman breezing through the game.
Rekeem Harper
A promising first appearance in Blue for a midfielder who clearly enjoys being on the ball and likes to move up and down in possession. There’s plenty more to come, of course, but the early signs were certainly good.
Wes Burns
Ipswich know what Burns is all about from his games against them with Fleetwood over the last two seasons and the Welshman was able to show flashes of that with some probing runs both down his right flank and through the middle.
Armando Dobra
The youngster started wide on the left and looked bright throughout his 45 minutes on the field, showing plenty of trickery and linking well with Penney down his flank. He’s already forced his way back into the first-team squad, now he will be bidding for more.
Macauley Bonne
The Ipswich-born forward’s first appearance in Blue nearly started in perfect fashion as his shot from outside the box beat the goalkeeper but rattled the bar. He played a little deeper than James Norwood but was pushed up alongside him on a number of occasions. Looked dangerous on the ball.
James Norwood
The striker is one of few to survive the summer cull and looks in good shape, having spent the summer following a tailored rehab planning looking to solve ongoing hamstring issues. Had some bright moments in this game, nearly connecting with a near-post cross. He looked glad to be back in action.
Tomas Holy
Called into action early as he tipped Dan Roberts’ shot over the top and stood firm throughout as a number of efforts came in on his goal. He wore the armband and was kept busy.
Corrie Ndaba
Back from his loan spell at Ayr and, for the third successive season, will be looking to push his case during the summer. Had a young side in front of him but performed well.
Idris El Mizouni
The midfielder, who ended last season with a knee injury picked up during his loan spell at Cambridge, played in one of the two deep midfield roles and looked bright throughout his time on the field.
The youngsters
The rest of the Ipswich side was made up of young players, some of whom were involved in the club’s run to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup last season.
They took 20 minutes to settle but found a way into the game, coming on strong in the latter stages with some good individual displays, too.
Edwin Agbaje got forward well from right-back, Albie Armin was solid on the left and Cameron Stewart made some vital interventions in the middle, alongside Ndaba.
Tawanda Chirewa was ultimately the match-winner as he fired home from outside the box, while also linking up well with team-mates throughout, while the attacking players of Cameron Humphreys, Jesse Nwabueze, Nico Valentine and Gerard Buabo all had good moments as the half went in.
They won the game for Town and received a good ovation from supporters at the end. It'll be a day they remember.
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